I'm planning to build a gaming PC and want to refine the parts before buying. My budget is about $2,000 for the PC and another $500 for a monitor, although component prices are unusually high where I live and the listed prices may not be perfectly accurate. I estimate that an 18% discount on all PC components except the monitor would bring the PC total to around $1,991, with the complete setup costing about $2,494.
Current parts and listed prices:
- Antec AX20 case: $50
- MSI 750W Gold power supply: $150
- Sharkoon A40 RGB CPU cooler: $30
- Kingston NV3 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD: $200
- AMD Ryzen 5 9600X: $300
- MSI RTX 5060 Ti 16GB Ventus 2X OC Plus: $1,064
- Kingston Fury Beast RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5-6000 CL36: $660
- MSI B650M Gaming Plus WiFi motherboard: $214
- Dell Alienware 27-inch QHD OLED monitor: $500
Are there any parts I should replace or rebalance, especially considering the high local prices? I'm also curious whether another graphics card would offer better value. A Radeon 9070 16GB costs about $1,029 locally, or roughly $872 through a better deal. My intended use is gaming, but I can provide more details if needed.
3 Answers
The parts are generally compatible, but the best recommendation depends on what you play and whether you need the PC for anything besides gaming. For a QHD OLED display, prioritize the strongest GPU you can reasonably afford, then cut costs on inflated parts such as memory and storage rather than overspending on RGB. Also verify that the cooler includes AM5 mounting hardware and that the case has enough airflow for the selected graphics card.
The 16GB DDR5 kit listed at $660 is extremely expensive and is probably the first thing I would replace. Look for a 32GB kit made from 2x16GB modules, ideally DDR5-6000 with reasonably tight timings. That gives you more capacity and should be a much better fit for this processor. The 1TB SSD also seems unusually costly, so compare other PCIe 4.0 drives before buying.
The graphics card and RAM prices stand out the most. At those prices, a Radeon 9070 would be worth seriously comparing because it should provide substantially more gaming performance than a 5060 Ti, especially at QHD resolution. If the 9070 is really available for around $872, it may be the stronger choice, provided the model has a decent cooler and your power supply has the required connectors.
The 9070 is normally about $1,029 here, but I can find one for approximately $872, so I’m considering it instead.
It would help to know your country and whether the system is mainly for gaming, since local availability and pricing can change which GPU and memory choices make the most sense.